Tim Allen and Daughter Co-Star in THE SANTA CLAUSES: ‘Amazing Experience’
By Movieguide® Contributor
As season 2 of THE SANTA CLAUSES releases on Disney+, Tim Allen and his daughter Elizabeth Allen-Dick talked about their experience working on set together.
The two began by discussing who forgets their lines more often, with Allen-Dick quickly saying that her father often ad-libs his dialogue. However, she also noted that he adds “value to the scripts,” and because his on-the-spot lines are always good, “technically [he doesn’t] really forget [his] lines.”
They then squared off on who is more likely to show up to set late. While Allen stated that he gets to set first, he quickly changed his answer after seeing the shocked look on his daughter’s face.
“Mom always gets me there early,” Allen-Dick protested. However, her dad shot back, saying, “I’m always here before makeup.” “You do get there early,” the young actress conceded with a laugh.
While Allen has enjoyed co-starring with his daughter, her role came about accidentally. During the first season of THE SANTA CLAUSES, Allen-Dick was meant to play an elf in the background and have little time on screen. However, the crew was impressed by her comedic timing, and she was asked to read for a more important role.
While this is her first acting gig, she had lots of previous experience helping her dad prepare for his roles.
“The line kept coming back to me, ‘Has she ever done this before? And I said, ‘No.’ But she’s read scripts with me all the time. We got to play all the time as a comedian. I’m that way around the house. She’s able to take a line, make it her own, add value to it and be honest about it. And it was an amazing experience,” Allen said in 2022 around the release of the first season of the show.
Being on set with his daughter has also allowed him to teach her important lessons about acting as she begins to work in the industry.
“It’s father-daughter, and it’s also actor-actor,” Allen said of their relationship. “It’s also a mentor and actor, and all three of them combine on the set because it’s very peculiar how life imitates art.”
“The advice I gave to my daughter Elizabeth is that the writers, producers and crew have the most important roles on a production,” he said. “Being an actor is a wonderful craft, but we are just part of a teamwork experience.”
The second season of THE SANTA CLAUSES will pick up where the first ended, as Allen’s character continues his search to find a replacement Santa Claus.
The first episode debuted on Nov. 8th, and new episodes will continue to be released every Wednesday on Disney+ through the season’s finale on December 6th.
Movieguide® previously reported:
Acting is a family affair for the Allens. Tim Allen, who is reprising his role as Santa in Disney+’s upcoming THE SANTA CLAUSES, got to act alongside his 13 year-old daughter Elizabeth in the new show.
Elizabeth Allen-Dick called working with her dad “surreal.”
“He was there when I needed help, but he also let me kind of figure it out, too, which I really liked,” she shared.
Elizabeth was originally set to just play an elf in the background of certain scenes, but Allen revealed that she got a bigger role when she impressed the show’s crew with her comedic timing.
“She drilled a very difficult mood joke, and she kept on it all the way through,” Allen said.
